Home

The National Center for Professional & Research Ethics (NCPRE) creates and shares resources to support the development of better ethics and leadership practices. We focus on leadership in a variety of institutional settings, from academia to business. NCPRE is part of the Coordinated Science Laboratory in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The NCPRE project began with a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Our current work includes studying and promoting improved research practice in university and private settings. One of our flagship initiatives is the SOURCE project, which provides universities with tools to assess their research ethics climates and benchmark themselves against institutional peers. Another important current activity is a multi-year leadership development institute, in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. We also offer workshops and MOOC-based coursework devoted to ethical leadership and coping with institutional challenges in the rapidly changing environment of higher education, here in the U.S. and around the world.

In all its activities, NCPRE is committed to forming, developing, and supporting communities of responsible professional practice.

We recognize that no one seeks disaster; small choices are important in personal and ethical pathways.

We create tools, systems, and resources to help universities and others educate about ethics, the responsible conduct of research, and leadership.

We educate about ethics as the smart choice, not just the right choice.

We help emerging professionals, from high school on, understand the importance of ethical and professional choices, and to lead effectively.

Academic Leadership Development

A new white paper, from the Confronting Challenges in Academic Units (CCAU) Consortium is now available. This guide was developed by NCPRE for the CCAU consortium to help departments critical capabilities in developing leadership for their units.

New Article in Nature

NCPRE director C.K. Gunsalus and NCPRE collaborator Aaron D. Robinson have written an article that recently appeared in the prestigious Nature magazine: “Nine Pitfalls of Research Misconduct”

Leadership Collection

Partnership with AGU

NCPRE is pleased to announce a new partnership with the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The partnership plans collaborative work on webinars, workshops, and online assets. More information will be online shortly.

NCPRE Offers Online Course: Professional IQ

NCPRE, in partnership with Coursera, is now offering Professional IQ, an online instructional in professional development and ethical decision-making.